Well here it is the saga..the pure drama of the Dionisi Disney adventure. - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Let’s begin with the pre-trip …
Let me introduce our cast of players…… Trisha (Me) – 42 year old ex travel agent, amateur chef and musician, fledgling entrepreneur , wife to Ken and most importantly Mom to Heather , Sara, Kenneth and Santina
Ken- 43 year old Truck driver /mechanic and nice guy despite his rough facade. ..Guess where this pic was taken.
Heather - 21 year old daughter. She is a butcher in training. Is independent after moving out last December. Now she isn’t going with us this trip, but she is my baby so she is thus listed. Anyway, being that she will be house-sitting the 2 furkids.. She will on occasion be mentioned.
Sara- 17 years old, High school Junior and future heart surgeon. Loves Disney, video games and manga /anime
Kenneth - 14 year old freshman who wants to be “some kind of artist” when he gets older. He is also a Disney, video game and anime/manga addict.
And last but not least.. Santina - She is 7 years old and in 1st grade. She is sweet and loving and a huge fan of Hannah Montana and the Princesses. She is very musical and has been known to memorize complete acts of showtunes.Most currently the score of “Scrooge” (with Albert Finney) …Thank ya very much…
The Plan – Jan 25th....4 Days at the Polynesian to be followed by 3 days on the boat. ( O.k.…yes we bought the package deal, but at the time it was and still is an awesome deal. )
We are (so far) driving. Leaving out on the night of the 23rd. Although with airfare going down that may change last minute. Cross your fingers for us, because I really hope so. My marriage is precious to me and being in the car that long with my dear hubby , who later turns into “that man” tends to be a bit much. He is a truck driver so he deems it important to put the longest antennae in the world, on top of my mini van. He chats all day on it…(thank Goodness for Ipod), also he feels that everyone should be up to just driving straight through. Potty breaks throw us way off schedule. Ikes! Lol..I am seriously considering slipping him a lil sumthin sumthin in his Mountain Dew so he will take a long nap . mmm? (disclaimer in case of future incrimination ….just kidding. )
It is roughly 5 weeks until take off. The family is excited. I even, through what must be a holiday miracle, got Sara and Kenneth to sit down with me to work on our ADRs. I couldn’t get Santina to get involved. Poor girl…. her Mom made a huge mistake. Last winter when I booked the vacation, I should have kept it to myself for a bit. Because now she doesn’t believe that we are really going. I guess that she will figure it out soon enough. J…. Besides that she is very preoccupied with the holidays.
At this point I have to admit to being behind in my family vacation coordinator (FVC) duties.
The holiday, birthdays, cake orders and other business has kept me hopping.
So see this pre report is a kind of …mmm.. match to start the fire under this booty.
Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter.
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Last edited by guitardiva; 03-12-2009 at 11:56 AM..
Reason: show date of travel
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I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
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Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
O.k. Well normally I wait until we are there andbook our meals per day, but I had a sudden feeling that it will be busy. Since of coursethey keep throwing out these cool offers. I was right..Everything is booking up.....I'm slow sometimes, but eventually catch up. lol.......Anyways.....
My dining reservations are'nt exactly how I want them , but close. In a few days I will call again and alter a couple.
For now;
Jan 25- MK- 1900 character breakfast -counter service later (I don't plan CS)
Jan 26-MGM (oops DHS) Cs & later Kona Cafe for dinner then back for Fantasmic
Jan27- Epcot -cs & then Rose and Crown for dinner
Jan 28- AK-& DTD - CS & then Ohana dinner
Jan 29- Chef Mickeys breakfast
Then we head to the boat.